Ozone depletion - Ultraviolet radiation and phytoplankton biology in Antarctic waters

• Main Authors: Smith, R. C., Prezelin, B. B., Baker, K. S., Bidigare, R. R., Boucher, N. P., Coley, T., Karentz, D., Macintyre, S., Matlick, H. A., Menzies, D.
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: 1992
• Subjects: 48; Antarctic; Southern Ocean; The Antarctic; Austral; Antarc*
• Online Access: http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19920044190

The near-50-percent thinning of the stratospheric ozone layer over the Antarctic, with increased passage of mid-UV radiation to the surface of the Southern Ocean, has prompted concern over possible radiation damage to the near-surface phytoplankton communities that are the bases of Antarctic marine ecosystems. As the ozone layer thinned, a 6-week study of the marginal ice zone of the Bellingshousen Sea in the austral spring of 1990 noted sea-surface and depth-dependent ratios of mid-UV irradiance to total irradiance increased, and mid-UV inhibition of photosynthesis increased. A 6-12 percent reduction in primary production associated with ozone depletion was estimated to have occurred over the course of the present study.